The Assignments
Here are the assignment topics, weights, and due dates. We will be posting the assignments here.
| Assignment | Topic | Weight | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assignment 1 | functions, if statements, for loops, strings | 10% | Fri 19 October by 4:00 pm |
| Assignment 2 | lists, dictionaries, file input, program design | 10% | Fri 30 Nov by 4:00 pm |
The assignments may be done in pairs. For information on declaring a partnership and on submitting, please visit Submitting coursework.
Late Penalty
We recognize that unexpected problems sometimes make it difficult to submit assignments on time. For this reason we will accept limited late assignments with a penalty. For the first five hours after the deadline the deduction will be 5% (of the total possible mark) per hour. For the next four hours, the additional deduction will be 15% per hour. Here it is broken down by hour:
| On time | no penalty |
| up to 1 hour late | 5% penalty |
| up to 2 hours late | 10% penalty |
| up to 3 hours late | 15% penalty |
| up to 4 hours late | 20% penalty |
| up to 5 hours late | 25% penalty |
| up to 6 hours late | 40% penalty |
| up to 7 hours late | 55% penalty |
| up to 8 hours late | 70% penalty |
| up to 9 hours late | 85% penalty |
Working successfully in a pair
For assignments, you may work alone or in a group of two. If you are working in a group, make sure that you are using pair programming just like in lab. The goal of pair programming is for the two of you to help each other learn the material and to avoid getting stuck with frustrating errors.
If you split up the assignment and work separately, you are not getting practice on all aspects of the assignment. Some midterm and exam questions will be related to the assignments, and if you aren't familiar with the entire assignment solution you are likely to not do well on those questions.
Sometimes a student who is working with a partner drops the course in the middle of an assignment. If this happens, the other partner is still responsible for completing the assignment on time. If he or she has been actively engaged in the entire assignment, this should not be a problem; the assignments are designed so that an individual student can complete them. However, if the remaining partner has not been actively involved or does not have copies of all of the work, they will have serious difficulty completing the assignment. Make sure you don't find yourself in this situation: be active in all parts of the assignment, and make sure that at the end of each meeting, both partners have a copy of all of the work.